Christmas in Roma

Yeah, ok, so I may be about a week late. It's just how I roll... However, not wanting to forget the day, I wrote it all out to myself. Here goes.

So yesterday was Christmas. Having decided that we weren't doing presents I was surprised that my body clock woke me up at 5.30, just like I usually do on a normal Christmas. I thought that maybe the folks might surprise us with something little, dad's the king of surprises, but alas, no. We ate breakfast and decided how we'd approach the day. Given the early setting sun we thought we'd get the sight seeing in early and make lunch whenever we got back.

For us to get anywhere we have to walk through St Peter's Square, the nativity scene is set up and it's full of more people than normal due to the christmas masses. Then it's past the Castle d'San Angelo before we make our way to the Pantheon.

When I was here 4 years prior, my camera screwed up and I have very few photos of the Pantheon. It was my favourite spot and I was disappointed I couldn't capture it better. This time, with a better camera and better camera skills, I got the photos I missed out on.

We stopped and had a coffee at one of the restaurants at the piazza just to relax and pass the time. Before we knew it, all the bells at a nearby church went off and it had gone midday.

Next stop was the Colosseum. Nothing is exactly close by Perth standards but there is so much to see you get lost in the sights. Before you know it, you've walked 10kms in a day.

En route we passed the building I only know as 'The Wedding Cake' (I now know it's a Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II) it's a monstrousety and I dislike it. However, if you're looking in the right direction, you'll spot the Colosseum.

Making our way there, we passed through some of the Roman Forum, not the official part, but amazing to see none the less. One of the rooms still had tiles attached to the walls. They were about a centimetre thick and white with a pretty blue pattern.

We walked around the Colosseum trying to find the entrance only to find out it had closed half an hour before. We made plans to return so we could get a look at the inside.

Being Christmas, no shops were open though there were plenty of stalls and things to spend your money on. We found the gelateria and spent our time picking different flavours to try. This time it was amarena and ananas (cherry and pineapple).

The casual stroll home was nice, the weather was pretty damn perfect. (We've been lucky this whole trip, the bad weather arrived at each spot after we'd left)

Having eaten we spent a lazy few hours on beds and lounges, either reading, watching telly or sleeping.

An hour or so later (we're now at about 4-4.30) mum and I headed into the kitchen to start dinner. All our food was to be cooked in the oven or on the stove and no matter what we tried, mum and I couldn't get it to work. Having been looking forward to cooking I may or may not have cracked the shits. Mum stayed calm, as she does, and asked dad to help. Of course, being that whole 'superman-of-the-family' deal has taught him a few things and he managed to get it working. So our christmas was not going to be a shambles!

We oven roasted cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, brushcetta toast and Italian salsiccia. That was first course.

We drank our family wine and toasted to an international christmas with our family.

Tortellini was our primo piatto, first course. A perfectly simple dish I remembered from last time and a dish our Zia Lena had made us while we were with her.

The secondo piatto, second course was minute steak and salad. Mum managed to get the perfect balance for the dressing and I managed to cooked the steak to an eatable level. We drank the family red and fought over who would get the last of the salad.

Dessert was lemon sorbet, chocolates and vanilla yoghurt. A bit of a mixed bag, but that suits us. We filled our glasses with sorbet and mixed in limoncello just for an extra kick. A very pleasing combination.

Now, while the guys do the dishes, I'm sitting on a big, soft pillow in tights and a singlet, smiling. This has been the perfect christmas.

<3 to your mother.